Commission agrees to let countries keep internal border controls

The European Commission announced Tuesday that five European countries can continue imposing temporary internal border controls over concerns about migration.

The decision allows Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway to keep the controls in place for another three months. According to the Commission, conditions that would allow a return to a normally functioning passport-free Schengen area — including better protection of the bloc’s external borders — have not yet been met.

“Over the past months we have taken important steps to address deficiencies at our external borders,” said European Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos, citing the recent launch of an EU border and coast guard. “But we are unfortunately not there yet.”

A significant number of “irregular” migrants remain in Greece, as well as in other countries which have been most affected by movements of migrants across the EU, the Commission said. It added that lifting the temporary border controls could lead to an increase of such movements.

The five nations, which introduced the temporary border controls at the peak of the migration crisis in late 2015 and early 2016, must now provide monthly reports on the measures carried out and their necessity.

At a recent meeting of interior ministers, Germany and Austria made clear they would ask for an extension after Denmark, a few weeks earlier, made the same call.

The Commission’s recommendation to renew the current extension, which expires on November 12, must still be adopted by the Council of Ministers. However, European leaders already supported the request at a summit last week, with the final text of the summit amended to add a line backing their call.